US R&B singer Teyana Taylor has announced that, due in part to being unappreciated in the music industry, she is “retiring” from her music career.
In an Instagram post, Taylor shared her results from Spotify’s 2020 Artists Wrapped, which showed she has accumulated 162.8 million listens on the streaming platform this year.
Alongside an image of her stats, Taylor wrote a lengthy caption that began on a note of appreciation to her fans. She then went on to express that she’s “feeling super under appreciated as an artist, receiving little to no real push from the ‘machine’, constantly getting the shorter end of the stick, being overlooked,” and followed with a statement of retirement.
“I’m retiring this chapter of my story with the comfort that i can depart with peace of mind seeing that all the hard work & passion put in was indeed loved & supported somewhere in the world! To all my supporters from day 1 & all my new ones I love you and I thank you for everything & don’t worry y’all know all hustlers have the understanding that when one door closes another will open …” she wrote.
A day after, she clarified her comments about retiring, saying they were meant as a “warning” to her record label.
Taylor, who is currently signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music and Def Jam Records said: ”[The] majority of what that post was to warn my label who I’ve been signed to for almost 10 years. Everything that you guys see of me, everything that I put out, everything that I do is like, 100% me.”
“I constantly feel alone, I’m constantly feel under-appreciated, I constantly feel failed…there is literally no push.”
After her shocking announcement, Cardi B was one of the celebs who took to Twitter to show her support for the BET award winner and her latest album.
‘If you know me then you know Teyana Taylor’s album it’s my favorite of 2020. I swear she really got the best album this year. I hate that she feels how she feels cause she sooo talented and the music is soo good,’ Cardi said.
Taylor retweeted and reciprocated the praise, writing: ‘I appreciate you for always genuinely showing me raw & real love.’
Last week, she hit out at Grammy bosses after the nominations for the 2021 awards failed to shortlist any female artists in the Best R&B Album category.
In June, the star released her third studio album, ‘The Album’, to rave reviews. It debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, making it her first top 10 album.